Basic Cycling

Pedaling Mechanics

• Pedaling should be envisioned as pedaling in “circles”. Another helpful image is that of scraping mud off your shoes at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Again, these are just visualizations and should help you translate the idea to the pedal stroke.
• During the recovery period of a pedal stroke, you should be continuing the cicular motion of pedaling, while pulling up on the pedal at the same time. One of the most common mistakes in cycling is only pushing down on the pedals and not pulling up.
• Try hard to avoid bouncing while riding
• Try hard to avoid any rocking motion while riding.
• Stay focused on keeping your upper body motionless and not allowing your hips to rock from side to side. You will get more force to the pedals and more forward momentum if you can become fluid in getting the power from the pedal stroke to your legs.
• Higher Cadences: these are defined as RPM’s of 90-110. This is definitely a learned skill and requires much practice. The use of higher cadences produces more efficient cycling, with less fatigue to your legs because you will be using less Type 2 muscle fibers (fast twitch muscles) that fatigue more easily. By minimizing the use of your fast twitch fibers you will:
• Decrease glycogen use (burn less fuel)
• Decrease lactate production (which is when you start to feel the burning sensation during the workout)
• As a result, you will experience to less muscle fatigue

SMOTHER PEDALING

One-leg pedaling is another approach to adding strength (and variety to your indoor training at the same time). Normally, when you pedal with both legs, the leg that pulls the foot through the bottom of the stroke and back up to the top of the 360 degree “cycle” is under used (as the other leg, when pushing the crank through the downstroke has significantly more power and thus allows a bit of slacking).Learning to pedal a complete, 360-degree circle with both legs working together will make you a better rider. Practicing with one legged drills will embed this idea into your pedaling style.

1. Warm up on the trainer for 20 minutes while pedaling with both legs.
2. Unclip one foot from the pedal. Rest it on a chair or stool just outside the left pedal circle.
3. Pedal at 90 rpm using your right leg, using an easy gear until you get accustomed to the feeling of one-leg pedaling. The muscles that lift your thigh and push the pedal over the top will fatigue quickly at first, but you’ll improve rapidly.
4. After a few minutes, switch to the other leg.

Single Leg Drills

· Warm up with 10 minutes

· Find a flat path, large safe parking lot works best.

· Unclip your shoe from one pedal and pedal with only one leg.

· Go for one minute and choose an easier gear and a high RPM

· Alternate legs for one minute each, start with 2 reps on each leg and build to 4-6 reps per leg, trying to keep those RPM’s at 90 or above.